IoT development kits streamline designs

IoT development kits are a time-saving tool for designers of connected devices, providing all the hardware and software needed to accelerate their IoT prototypes. Now add artificial intelligence and machine learning and requirements for ultra-low–power and always-on applications and things just got a lot more complicated, requiring faster and new ways to speed up development.

Embedded.com’s 2023 embedded market survey found that nearly one-third of embedded design is dedicated wholly or partially to IoT applications, most for sensor-driven, industrial or mobile communications, with smart buildings, connected vehicles, wearables and IP/connected cloud/routers not far behind. In addition, 75% of respondents said they started their embedded designs with a development board.

The report also reveals that AI and ML tops the list of advanced technical capabilities. The survey finds that 26% of respondents are currently using embedded AI and 24% are considering it. For ML model–based capabilities, 23% are currently using it and 24% are considering it.

It all boils down to simplifying IoT designs and providing the capabilities that designers need. One of their big requirements is hardware-development tools, including development kits, to help accelerate their designs. These kits include microcontrollers (MCUs) or system-on-chips (SoCs), sensors, actuators and radios.

With over one-third of designs incorporating wireless technologies, according to the embedded survey, many kits also provide cloud connectivity and support wireless and cellular connectivity to reduce design complexity. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth LE and Bluetooth are the most popular interfaces.

As a result, the value of dev kits continues to increase as the number of IoT and connected devices for existing and new applications expands and new wireless technologies develop and evolve, such as LoRa, Matter and Wi-Fi HaLow. IoT development kits are growing across industries, including consumer electronics, industrial automation, smart homes, smart cities and healthcare.

To meet the rising demand, most MCU and wireless SoC and module makers offer IoT development kits or boards to help accelerate the design-in of their latest chips or modules. Here are several samples that address multiple applications and markets.

One example that checks off a lot of boxes is Aspinity’s recent release of its AB2 AML100 application board. This new board speeds up the development of power-constrained, always-on AI products that use the AML100 analog machine-learning (AnalogML) processor as well as Renesas Electronics Corp.’s Quick-Connect IoT platform or other development platforms with an Arduino Uno Rev3 connector. It provides near-zero power analog event detection directly from analog sensors like microphones, ultrasonic sensors and accelerometers. Applications include smart homes, home security, hearables, wearables, biometric monitoring and industrial vibration monitoring.

The near-zero–power AML100 is built on Aspinity’s proprietary analogML core and consumes 15 µA for sensor interfacing, signal processing and decision-making within the analog domain. Aspinity said when programmed with one of Aspinity’s purpose-built event-detection algorithms, the AB2 allows system designers to quickly implement the AML100 as a front-end analog event detector that keeps the Renesas MCU at its lowest-power state unless the sensor event of interest is detected. Keeping the MCU in sleep mode for most of the time, eliminates the battery-life tradeoff when leveraging the features and functionality of the MCU.

The first demonstration of the Aspinity board within the Renesas Quick-Connect IoT platform used the AML100 board connected to the Renesas EK-RA6M3 evaluation kit to deliver an ultra-low–power glass-break–detection solution. The system consumes <45 µA when in always-listening mode, keeping the RA6M3 MCU in its deep-sleep mode until a glass break is detected, extending the battery life for glass-break sensors.

It should also be noted that Renesas followed up on its Quick-Connect Platform with the Quick-Connect Studio, an online, cloud-based IoT system design platform. The company said it is the first cloud-based system development tool to dynamically create IoT software. It allows users to graphically build hardware and software simultaneously, quickly validate prototypes and accelerate product development. The platform offers a range of development kits, peripheral modules and peripheral boards that will be continuously expanded.

One of the big challenges faced by embedded designers is ensuring connected device security. STMicroelectronics’ STM32H5 Discovery Kit (STM32H573I-DK), based on the STM32H5 MCU, targets the development of smart, secure connected devices and is the first kit to incorporate ST’s Secure Manager SoC with integrated core security services. Applications include high-performance processing and advanced security in smart sensors, smart appliances, industrial controllers, networking equipment, personal electronics and medical devices.

The kit includes the STM32H5 MCU, color touch display, a digital microphone and interfaces for USB, Ethernet and Wi-Fi. Other features include an audio codec, flash memory and headers for connecting expansion shields and daughterboards.

With the STM32H573I-DK Discovery Kit, developers can evaluate the integrated features of the STM32H5 MCUs, such as analog peripherals, timers, the ST ART (Adaptive Real-Time) accelerator, media interfaces and mathematical accelerators for new designs. Applications range from industrial programmable logic controllers, motor drives and smart controllers for appliances like air conditioners, refrigerators and washing machines to alarm controllers, communication hubs and smart-lighting controls.

Also helping to simplify the development process is the STM32CubeH5 MCU software package that consolidates the components required to develop an application on the STM32H5, including examples and application code. The package is integrated into the STM32Cube ecosystem, which also provides additional software for application development. ST also offers the STM32CubeMX tool for configuring and initializing the MCU.

ST also recently introduced its SensorTile.Box Pro (STEVAL-MKBOXPRO) development tool, designed for everyone from the developer to the hobbyist, to develop IoT-connected applications. The SensorTile.box PRO multi-sensor and wireless connectivity development kit is designed for fast IoT node and wearable application development.

Packaged in a 40 × 60-mm plastic box, it is comprised of ST’s low-power STM32U5 MCU with Arm TrustZone security, multiple high-precision motion and environmental sensors, a digital microphone, and NFC and Bluetooth connectivity. It also includes a long-life, 480-mAh rechargeable battery.

The programmable wireless kit is available in three development modes for programming: entry, expert and pro. Entry mode provides ready-to-use embedded IoT example applications. Applications (designed to work with the board sensors) include motion (compass, free-fall detection, level, pedometer and sensor fusion), environmental (barometer), log (data recorder), AL and ML control (baby-crying detector and human-activity recognition), user interface (Qtouch) and connectivity (NFC tag).

With expert mode, users can configure the platform from smartphones via Bluetooth using the dedicated BLE Sensor Classic mobile app (STBLESensClassic), available for free for Android and iOS. They can select specific input data and operating parameters from the sensors, as well as functions to assess and compute the data and output types.

Pro mode allows developers to create custom applications using the STM32 open development environment and ST function pack libraries, including the sensing AI function pack with neural network libraries, all without coding.

For some designers, the ability to customize is an important factor in their choice of processor, offering them greater design flexibility. Microchip Technology Inc. offers a range of Curiosity Nano development platform boards to start creating designs using its PIC, AVR and SAM MCUs and dsPIC33C DSCs with configurable on-chip peripherals for customizing designs. They come with full programming and debugging capabilities.

Every Nano board is compatible with a Curiosity Nano Base for Click boards. The base includes a socket that fits all Nano boards, plus three mikroBUS sockets and an Xplained Pro socket to add additional functionality.

One of the most recent introductions is the PIC18F16Q20 Curiosity Nano evaluation kit. The kit provides access to the intelligent analog and core independent peripherals on the PIC18F16Q20.

The PIC18-Q20 family is comprised of low-pin–count MCUs with up to two I³C peripherals and multi-voltage I/O (MVIO), delivering flexible scaling of IoT applications. I³C offers higher communication rates and lower power consumption compared with I²C and is backward-compatible with legacy systems. With the development board, developers can evaluate the I³C and MVIO capabilities on the PIC18-Q20 for rapid prototyping.

Available in 14- and 20-pin packages as small as 3 × 3 mm, the PIC18-Q20 MCUs are suited for real-time control, touch sensing and connectivity applications. They offer configurable peripherals, advanced communication interfaces and easy connection across multiple voltage domains without external components. In addition to IoT products, the PIC18-Q20 MCUs can be used in a range of applications, such as automotive, industrial control, computing, consumer and medical.

Wireless kits and boards

Dev kits also abound for a variety of low-power wireless IoT technologies, such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Matter and LoRa, to help drive new designs. In some instances, chipmakers are leveraging partnerships to drive the adoption of these wireless technologies.

One example is Silicon Labs’ collaboration with Arduino. Silicon Labs is a big proponent of the Matter protocol, which runs over existing technologies like Wi-Fi and Thread, and Arduino development boards are one of the top choices of embedded designers.

Silicon Labs formed a partnership with Arduino to drive the development of Matter over Thread applications for Arduino’s developer community, which is comprised of 33 million users. Developed in collaboration with Silicon Labs, Arduino has released its first Matter software libraries on the Silicon Labs xG24 Explorer Kit and the xG24-based SparkFun Thing Plus Matter—MGM240P development board. Code samples, reference designs and documentation are available on the Arduino Core for Silicon Labs Devices GitHub page.

The EFR32xG24 Explorer Kit is a small-form–factor development and evaluation platform based on the Silicon Labs EFR32MG24 wireless SoC. It targets fast prototyping and concept creation of IoT applications for 2.4-GHz wireless protocols, including Bluetooth LE, Bluetooth Mesh, Zigbee, Thread and Matter.

The Matter-ready SparkFun Thing Plus Matter is claimed as the first easily accessible board of its kind that combines Matter and SparkFun’s Qwiic ecosystem for easy development and prototyping of Matter-based IoT devices. The Silicon Labs MGM240P wireless module provides secure connectivity for both 802.15.4 with Mesh communication (Thread) and Bluetooth LE 5.3 protocols. The module is ready for integration into Silicon Labs’ Matter IoT protocol for home automation.

By integrating Silicon Labs’ hardware capabilities into Arduino’s development environment, it is expected to deliver a combination of accessibility and advanced features that will open up new advanced IoT applications and make IoT development faster and more user-friendly.

Arduino offers an open-source ecosystem of hardware, software and cloud services that are accessible to everyone from makers to professional engineers. The company’s shared software resources offer a range of pre-compiled libraries to get their devices up and running quickly. For example, Silicon Labs set up a new board flashed as a Matter device, and it was ready to be commissioned into a new network in less than two minutes.

Phase 2 of the partnership encompasses a new Arduino Nano development board for small-form–factor devices. The new dev board will incorporate the MGM240 module from Silicon Labs. Based on the MG24 SoC, the module provides wireless connectivity using Matter, Thread and Bluetooth protocols.

Key features of the MG24 include an Arm Cortex-M33, 10-dBm output power, low current consumption and the highest PSA Certification Level 3 security. It also provides large memory of up to 1,536 kB of flash, 256 kB of RAM and 32 GPIOs to meet the capacity and expandability needed for Matter.

Qorvo Inc.’s IoT Dev Kit for the QPG6105 for Matter- and Bluetooth-connected devices is also designed to help developers bring Matter products to market faster. Applications include smart-home sensors, smart lighting, thermostats and other connected end devices.

The kit is centered around the QPG6105 multi-standard smart-home communications controller. It supports Zigbee, Thread, Bluetooth LE, Bluetooth Mesh and Matter connectivity, enabling greater interoperability and scalability. It features Qorvo’s ConcurrentConnect technology, which enables multiple protocols to operate simultaneously, and 128-kB RAM and 1-MB flash for advanced use cases. Security features include secure boot, secure over-the-air software upgrade and secure identity. Key applications include connected lighting and smart-home sensors and actuators.

The dev kit includes a QPG6105 radio board and a separate carrier board. The carrier board enables both application development and debugging of the radio board. Key features of the radio board include the QPG6105 SoC with 1-MB flash and 128 kB RAM, 2 × 2.4-GHz PCB antenna for antenna diversity and 10-dBm output power.

Another partnership resulted in the launch of a LoRa IoT development board. LoRa, though not widely adopted, can be used in a range of smart-home and -building, smart-city, industrial control and healthcare applications by enabling communication over long ranges while using very little power. Semtech Corp. and Connected Development, an engineering design services company, have released the XCVR development board and reference design for long-range wireless applications. The board helps to simplify the design process for IoT applications like building management, agriculture, supply chain, logistics and industrial control.

At the heart of the LoRa IoT dev board is the LoRa sub-gigahertz radio transceiver based on Semtech’s LoRa SX126x Series, while Connected Development’s layout and schematic files for the XCVR development board provide LoRa implementation into end-product designs. The IoT solution can be used in a variety of applications, including smart homes, smart cities, smart meters, building automation and asset tracking, and sensors (such as environmental, parking, safety and security).

The software drivers are compatible with various MCU vendors, including Nordic Semiconductor. Software examples include LoRa Point to Point and LoRaWAN (LoRaMAC-Node and LoRa Basics Modem) reference firmware for fast software development. The dev board is available in three variants (SX1261 and SX1262 as well as the LLCC68 RF transceiver) to support North America and EMEA.

Also aimed at smart-home applications, Wi-Fi HaLow (IEEE 802.11ah) was developed specifically to meet the long-range and low-power requirements of many IoT applications, delivering advantages in range, data rate and energy efficiency. By operating over narrow frequency bands, it enables signals to penetrate transmission obstacles, overcoming some of the limitations of traditional Wi-Fi. Semiconductor startup Morse Micro, founded in 2016, offers a range of SoCs and modules for Wi-Fi HaLow, including the high-performance MM6108 that supports 1-, 2-, 4- and 8-MHz bandwidth and offers a PHY rate up to 32.5 Mbits/s.

Housed in a 6 × 6-mm QFN48 package, the MM6108 provides a single-chip Wi-Fi HaLow solution incorporating the radio, PHY and MAC; offers data rates that range from tens of megabits per second to hundreds of kilobits per second; and supports the latest WPA3 security. The radio supports operation in sub-gigahertz ISM bands worldwide between 850 MHz and 950 MHz. The low-power design, in combination with support for the IEEE 802.11ah standard, enables extended sleep times and lower power consumption for battery-operated client devices, achieving longer battery life than other existing Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11a/b/ g/n/ac/ax generations.

Morse Micro’s MM6108-EKH08-05US-02 evaluation kit is a Wi-Fi HaLow development platform that supports an STMicroelectronics development board. Designed to validate IoT Wi-Fi HaLow use cases, the MM6108-EKH08-05US-02 development platform supports data rates up to 32.5 Mbits/s with programmable operation between 850 MHz and 950 MHz. The development platform offers several power consumption features, including internal or external switched-mode power supply to reduce power consumption in run mode. The kit is comprised of the Wi-Fi HaLow shield (p/n: MMECH08) with the MM6108 module (p/n: MM6108-MF08651-US), the STM32 NUCLEO-U575ZI-Q board, USB cable and antenna.